These databases and books can help provide context for historical events and the social context of your books.
They are just a sampling of what K-State Libraries offers. If you need to research a different topic, visit our complete list of databases.
You can locate more books that introduce you to a topic by searching Search It (the search box on the Libraries' home page) for your topic and terms like: encyclopedia, handbook, or dictionary.
1. Collect keywords that concisely describe the topics you are researching. We do this to increase our chances of finding relevant articles, even if the researcher is using different terms from those used in the books or your class discussions.
Start narrow with the person, object, or event from the book. Then add the categories to which they may belong.
Example: Packard --> car
Once you have categories, add synonyms.
Example: Car = automobile = sedan
2. Read the bibliographies and references. Whether on Wikipedia or in an academic journal article, find out what sources the author consulted. These could be relevant to your research, too.
When you find a title that looks relevant, paste the title (just the title) into Search It to see if K-State Libraries owns it. If we do not, we can try to get a copy for you from another library through Interlibrary Loan.
3. Plan to research, write, research, write. Writing and research feed and inform each other. Be sure to plan time to do both, several times.
4. Ask a librarian - we can help you at the planning stage and when you get stuck. We can help you via chat, email, or Zoom. You can talk to me, your librarian, or talk to trained library student employee through our Peer Consultations.
These databases include many reference books about literature. They are a good place to get your feet under you and get an idea about commonly discussed themes in the works you are studying. They also include some scholarly articles, book reviews, author biographies, and even, sometimes, interviews or statements from the authors.
HeinOnline is a premier online database containing more than 160 million pages and 200,000 titles of historical and government documents in a fully searchable, image-based format. HeinOnline bridges an important research gap by providing comprehensive coverage from inception of more than 2,600 law-related periodicals. In addition to its vast collection of academic journals, HeinOnline contains the entire Congressional Record, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations, complete coverage of the U.S. Reports back to 1754, and entire databases dedicated to treaties, constitutions, case law, world trials, classic treatises, international trade, foreign relations, U.S. Presidents, and much more.
Paid for by K-State Libraries
Indexes and abstracts of more than 600 journals, 420 of which also include full text articles. CMMC contains a Communication Thesaurus and comprehensive reference browsing as well as over 3,000 author biographies.
Paid for by K-State Libraries
Provides a combined search for Ethnic NewsWatch and Ethnic NewsWatch History which feature newspapers, magazines, and journals from ethnic and minority presses; GenderWatch which features historical and current perspectives of gender roles; and Alt-PressWatch which showcases some of the nation’s most respected and cited grassroots publications. Searches can be narrowed to peer-reviewed publications.
Paid for by K-State Libraries
A full-text collection of more than 550 core journals ranging from history to business to literature to science and mathematics. Coverage begins with the first issue of a title, but the most recent three to five years of each title are usually not available. The full article text is searchable.
Note: The Artstor content transitioned to the JSTOR platform over the summer of 2024 and it was retired on August 1, 2024. If you had image groups on Artstor, they should be copied over to your JSTOR Workspace.
Paid for by K-State Libraries
Part of Oxford Music Online, the Encyclopedia of Popular Music covers all popular musical genres spanning from 1900 to the present day, including artist bibliographies and discographies.
These resources will help with questions about average income, cost of products, and demographics.
These sites offer free access to data. Most are government sources that, in the United States, are charged with collecting data.